St. Louis @ New Jersey preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 12, 2019 ) New Jersey 3, St. Louis 8

The St. Louis Blues missed out on a chance to move within two points of first place in the Central Division last time out and now look to gain a split on their two-game road trip against non-playoff teams when they visit the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. The Blues scored the first two goals of the game on Friday before suffering a 4-2 setback against the New York Rangers, but clinched a playoff spot later in the night after Arizona lost in a shootout.

Vladimir Tarasenko reached the 30-goal plateau for the fifth straight season after tallying on Friday and David Perron scored his 21st of the campaign - the most he has recorded since 2013-14 with Edmonton (28) - for St. Louis, which had its six-game point streak halted. The Blues meet four teams out of playoff positions in their final five games of the regular season, starting with a matchup against a Devils team they beat 8-3 on Feb. 12 for their 10th straight victory in the all-time series. New Jersey, which is 15th out of 16 teams in the Eastern Conference, had won two in a row before getting blanked 4-0 in Detroit on Friday and has managed to score just six times in its last six contests. MacKenzie Blackwood turned aside 29 shots in Friday’s loss for the Devils, who are expected to turn to Cory Schneider (6-12-3) on Saturday as coach John Hynes continues to alternate his goaltenders.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), MSG Plus (New Jersey)

ABOUT THE BLUES (41-28-8): Tarasenko has notched seven of his 61 points in the last seven games and is second on the team behind Ryan O’Reilly (72), who is one goal shy of tying the career high of 28 he set in 2013-14 with Colorado. Brayden Schenn recorded an assist on Friday to pull within one of his fourth straight season with at least 50 points while Jaden Schwartz collected his fifth point in five games. Rookie Jordan Binnington (21-5-1) saw his five-game winning streak end on Friday and coach Craig Berube could turn to backup Jake Allen (18-17-7) against the Devils.

ABOUT THE DEVILS (29-40-9): Miles Wood, who led the way on Friday with four shots, has registered a goal and an assist in three games since returning from an ankle injury that sidelined him for almost a month. Kyle Palmieri leads the team with 27 goals - three shy of the career high he set in 2015-16 - and 50 points but has not landed on the scoresheet in six games and has scored just once in his last 14 contests. Nico Hischier is three goals and seven points shy of matching the totals of 20 and 52, respectively, he posted as a rookie in 2017-18.

OVERTIME

1. New Jersey D Sami Vatanen has missed the last two games due to illness and is not expected to play against the Blues.

2. St. Louis C Tyler Bozak has notched four assists in his last five contests and is one point shy of 400 for his career.

3. The Devils are 14-for-14 on the penalty kill over their last six games while the Blues are 16-for-17 in their last nine.

PREDICTION: Blues 4, Devils 2